Not Built For Speed

by Meghann on December 14, 2008

I did it!

I finished my 5k in record time Unfortunately I felt like I was dying the entire time! lol It was both the hardest and most satisfying race I have ever done. Who knew I would get that much from a 5k? The last 5k I did was way back in April and I ran it with a strong 32 minutes finish. Well since that 5k I have upped my running skills and successfully smoked through a 15k,10k, and Half Marathon. I knew I could easily PR another 5k. I set my goal pretty high, hoping to finish at 25 minutes and you know what?…. I finished 24:43!!!

I have learned some lessons though on what to do and what not to do while running a 5k. Let me tell you the whole story before I explain my reasoning…..

I woke up early this morning, with the race amazingly no where in my head. I was way to cocky to give the 5k much thought.. mistake #1. Before I left my apartment I tried my first of the Holiday Clif Bars I got while at Amelia Island this weekend.

I had been dying to try these, but had no luck in Orlando. When I saw them in Amelia Island I loaded up desperate to see what all the fuss was about

THis morning I went for what I had been dying to test out the most: Pumpkin Spice.

The pumpkin flavor was there, which was great, but the icing topping tasted artificial and funny. I’m interested to try the rest now.

When I arrived at the race site I was shocked on how few people were there. I was told the race would be small, due to the quiet sponsor, but I think there were probably 80 people tops running today. Which is a shock, compared to the 4000 person race I participated in last week. lol

I was so excited to finally get to meet Lindsey! After reading someone’s blog you feel like you already know everything about them so there was no awkwardness, it was instant friendship. This was also Lindsey’s first 5k that she trained very hard for, ti was exciting to help in the breaking of someone’s racing cherry. lol

After the group of 10kers took off we all made our way to the start line to wait for the gun. I knew I wanted to give my all for this race, but a few factors were making me a little nervous. I was told there would be no mile markers or clocks along the way so I had no idea where I would be at time the entire run. I also realized I had never tried to sprit three miles before so I wasn’t sure where to pace myself or how my body would react. I suddenly regretted not doing any speed training.

Before I knew it we were all counting down and the air horn blew. We were off. Caitlin and I took off in a hurry. I was literally sprinting across the start line and already huffing. I had done zero sprint training and had no idea what I was in for. At first I felt like I could do this, I could kick this 5k’s behind.

I passed Caitlin in the first 5 minutes, then another guy another minute in. I held strong; thoughts going through my head of mine and Caitlin’s smack talk before the race and I knew I would never live it down if I faultered. I kept my pace, not quite sure exactly what it was at the moment. The one bad thing about small races is there was not too many people around me so that I could find a pace, I was gunning it without a second thought.

There was a water station at the half way point where we would circle back. The water station just happened to be at the top of a hill that felt like I had to climb Mt. Everest to reach it. I took the hill slow and hard and was not tempted by the solo water station. I did not want to have to slow down to drink. After the turn my body told me if could not keep at that speed and I could feel my self slowing down. Caitlin came up beside me and I told her this was getting hard. She grunted at me acknowledging she felt the same way. After she passed me the other guy I had passed at the beginning made his was way by as well. Damn.

I knew I was not going to be able to beat Caitlin at this point and that sadly discouraged me from pushing it any harder. My stomach began to cramp and I tried to breathe as quickly in and out as I could. I began to realize I was not built for speed at this point, I was meant to pac myself for distance. My body was revolting against me and I had only just run two miles. It was telling me no thank you. The odd part was my legs felt great, they could go for miles and miles at this speed, it was the rest of my body was was not comprehending the extra amount of force. The cramps were getting painfully worst and I felt like I wasn’t going to be able to finish.

A solo girl began to pass me and I could not believe it. Where had she come from? There were very few females in this race and I was hoping to beat all of them. I used her as motivation to hold on until the end. I kept reminding myself this was a short race and the aster I finished, the faster it would be over with.

FInally I saw the end and began to pick up my pace. The clock at the finish line was inaccurate as it only read the time of the day. I had no clue what my finish time was and at this point I didn’t care. I was just oh so happy to be done!

I had never felt so much pain in a race before. Which is so odd considering my race last week had me running 10 more miles once I reached that point. I was s gleefully happy to finish I found Caitlin right away and gave her a hug as we waited for Lindsey to cross the finish line a few minutes later.

Once the three of us were done we sat around laughing and gossiping until the results were posted. Since it was a small race were all pretty much guaranteed a plaque, which made it all seem worth it.

Lindsey won First in the 19-24 age group!

Caitlin won First for Overall Female.

And I happily won Third for Overall Female.

I was actually really happy with this finish. It was a small race, but there was still a big chunk of female runners, so to be able to be the third female to run across that finish line made me smile.

We were all ready for some breakfast after collecting our awards and headed down the street to First Watch, where we were surprisingly seated right away.

I ordered the Floridian French Toast topped with Strawberries and Kiwis. Yum!

It was great being able to eat and talk, I love having foodie friends.

After breakfast we all set our good byes with plans to get together in the near future.

I learned a lot of lessons today in my run that I hope I can utilize towards a faster 5k time. I know with a little training and perseverance I can achieve something amazing!

I have a fun filled Sunday ahead of me now that my day has set off on a wonderful start. I will hopefully see you guys later tonight! Have a great Sunday!

Awesome job on the 5k and meeting your ambitious goal! I know what you mean about not being built for speed…I definitely am not! I enjoy running the longer, slower pace most of the time…I don’t like feeling like I’m gonna die
Congrats!

umm, the same thing happenned to me. i tried my first ever cliff bar the morning before my first half marathon. BAD idea, fighting cramping the entire time! but i did hit my goal… so i forgave it and will never eat another one of those pre-run again!

You shaved off over 7 minutes from your last 5K… that’s amazing!!! Thanks for the whole story – I feel like I was with you the entire time! These kind of mental pep talks really help to relate. I’ve only done one 5K race in my life and found it to be quite difficult (although I never really run outside so that was a huge part of the problem). I can’t wait to do another one next year. Any race is hard because you try to achieve different things. Great job!!

I’m a few days late, but I just wanted to congratulate you and the other girls on the Elf run — I am a blog lurker of all three of you, and you inspired me to post a new entry on my own blog! It’s here;